“This part of Tidal Wave II is created to attack the distribution component of ISIL’s oil smuggling operation and degrade their capacity to fund their military operations”, Warren said.
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The strike comes just days after Kurdish and Yazidi fighters, backed by US airstrikes, cut an important road, Highway 47, that the Islamic State has used to move supplies and fighters between Syria and Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which was captured by the militant group past year.
U.S.-led coalition warplanes took out 116 fuel trucks used by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in a single strike on November 15, the Pentagon said.
“Four A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes and two AC-130 Spectre gunships pounded the trucks as they clustered near Abu Kamal, a town close to the Iraqi border”.
Oil rigs in Syria in 2013.
The report said until Monday, the U.S. had refrained from striking the Daesh oil fleet, which is estimated to include more than 1,000 tanker trucks, because of concerns about causing civilian casualties.
The Pentagon spokesperson said Sunday, November 15’s attack “was part of that strategy to start degrading their financial ability”. Davis said it would take “some time” to fully realize the long-term effects of targeting key elements of the oil network. Pentagon officials say there is no direct connection between to two incidents, reports AP.
The U.S.-led coalition carried out nine other strikes near six other Syrian cities, hitting various targets including numerous fighting positions, buildings and tactical units, according to the U.S-led Combined Joint Task Force.
Warren said the military did detailed analysis to determine how to knock out the facilities for more than a day or two.
“We’d conduct a strike against a few piece of the oil infrastructure, and then within, you know, 24, 48, 72 hours, the enemy have managed to fix that piece of infrastructure, and were back up and running”.
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The campaign in called Tidal Wave II, in tribute to the Original Operation Tidal Wave, which helped counter Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe by attacking Romania’s oil fields and industry.
